Chapter 53
Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.
Troy was better the next day though he didn't get up to run Jack let him walk to school. He and Gabriella walked leisurely to school an into homeroom hand in hand enjoying what time they had together before Taylor dragged Gabriella away for decathlon training. Troy watched her go with good grace knowing Gabriella would do a lot of waiting for him once Basketball season started again next year. Summer sports were about to start he needed to decide what he wanted to sign up for. He'd enjoyed being on the golf team the year before but it didn't do a lot to maintain his fitness, Chad had spoken about wanting Troy to play baseball with him, Zeke was talking about signing up for track, and Jason normally tried out for tennis because of the mixed doubles and the short tennis dresses the girls wore.
He thought about talking to his Dad about his choices not sure he wouldn't be better off concentrating on bringing his grades back up after the season and the musicale instead of taking up a summer sport this year.
-o0o-
Taylor went a little crazy with decathlon training every free period and lunch time that week as well as a couple of sessions after school. Troy hung out with the team catching up on what was going on with everyone and encouraging some pickup games in the gym.
The scholastic decathlon meet that week was at Manzano High and Troy had asked Maria if she would take Troy along to watch as a surprise for Gabriella. The team travelled together on the bus leaving before the end of final period to get there and set up in time. It was good of Maria to agree to take Troy particularly seeing East High was out of her way and she risked missing the start of the competition by picking him up.
Troy was waiting for Maria out the front of the school. He was a little apprehensive about spending time alone with Gabriella's Mom, especially after she'd made it so clear she didn't trust him.
Maria was also a little concerned about being stuck in the car with Troy. Gabriella had told her off several times about how rude she was to Troy and she wondered if he resented her for her decision not to allow him in the house unless she is present.
As a result they were both quite stiff and formal with each other falsely reinforcing for each of them the concern that they were disliked by the other.
"I'm surprised you wanted to come. Scholastic Decathlon isn't much of a spectator sport. You'll probably be the only student in the audience" Maria said.
"Why would you think I wouldn't I want to support Gabriella?" Troy asked
I would have come to every meet if I didn't have basketball or rehearsals or Jakie" Troy said firmly.
"Okay Troy it's just I saw the following that basketball has at East High and scholastic decathlon has no following at all" Maria explained.
"Did it have more support at Gabriella's other schools?" Troy asked.
Maria laughed bitterly. "The kids on the decathlon team kept as low a profile as they could so they wouldn't be picked on. Especially after they won the decathlon final the same day as the football team lost the playoffs" Maria said. "That was one school Gabriella was actually relieved to be transferred from."
"That was Seattle right?" Troy asked.
"Yes"
"Gabriella told me she wasn't physically bullied" Troy said wanting Maria to confirm that.
"She wasn't but a couple of her teammates were and she was pretty shaken up about it all" Maria said regretfully. "I'm a little surprised she agreed to be on the scholastic decathlon team again, especially with everything else she had going on with the call backs and new friendships at the time. Having you there to support her has had a wonderful affect on Gabriella" Maria said gratefully.
Troy didn't have any idea what to say to that so he was grateful they arrived at the school at that point. "Do you know where we need to go?" he asked.
"No but generally if we go in the main door the way will be signposted, haven't you been here before?" Maria said.
"Yeah, I could show you the way to the gym but I've never been in the rest of the school" Troy explained.
They entered the science room and sat on the portable bleachers. Maria was right he was the only spectator there that wasn't a parent but he was more concerned with watching for Gabriella's reaction when she realised he'd come to support her.
Gabriella finished the last minute planning with the team and looked up hoping to see her mother in the audience. She stopped shocked at the sight of him. Troy was decked out in their school colours and watching her. He grinned and waved when he saw her looking at him.
"What's wrong?" Taylor asked noticing her standing gaping at the audience.
"Nothing's wrong. Troy's here" Gabriella murmured smiling.
Taylor glanced up at the audience in surprise. "What's he doing here?" she asked. "If he came to make trouble I'll kill him."
Gabriella glared at Taylor. "He came to support me" she said.
"How do you know?" Taylor demanded.
"The team often pranks us though they're not allowed to actually bully us. Coach Bolton has a strict no tolerance policy to bullies" Erin said quietly.
"If he was planning to cause trouble the whole team would be here and he wouldn't be sitting next to my mother" Gabriella said dryly. "Is it so hard to believe my boyfriend would come to support us?"
"Mine doesn't and we've been dating over a year" Bec huffed in frustration.
"Have you ever asked him?" Gabriella asked.
"Yeah I used to but he always made excuses so I figured he just wasn't interested in coming" Bec said. "But you didn't even ask Troy or you wouldn't have been so surprised he came."
"No but when I think about it he had good reasons for not being able to come to any of the other meets" Gabriella said. "He's so supportive I shouldn't be surprised he wanted to support me in this too."
"You're so lucky" Erin said laughing.
The meet started and Troy watched fascinated as the contestants answered questions and solved problems way beyond his understanding. He cheered loudly for each of the East High competitors even after realising he was the only one cheering.
East High won the competition and Troy leaped down from the bleachers to hug Gabriella. Laughing Gabriella reintroduce him to the rest of the team.
"Congratulations" Troy said shaking hands all round.
The other team members remembering how they'd stood by and let Taylor try to break up Troy and Gabriella to get her onto the team were astounded by his generosity in accepting them.
"Thanks for coming to watch" Daniel said.
"I can't believe no one else comes" Troy said.
"It's not like it'd be fascinating viewing unless you understand the questions" Scott snarked.
"That shouldn't make a difference. This is a school competition" Troy argued.
"Maybe it's better that it flies under the radar" Gabriella suggested diffidently.
"I won't let anyone bully you again Gabriella" Troy said hugging her.
"You were bullied for being on the decathlon team? No wonder you were hesitant to join us" Erin said.
"Do you guys want to go out and celebrate?" Taylor said to change the subject.
"I could go a pizza" Daniel said.
"I saw a pizza place just up the road" Bec suggested.
"No! We'd be better off going out somewhere in East territory" Troy said.
"And you could call your boyfriend to join us" Gabriella said to Bec. "And anyone else who has a boyfriend or girlfriend too."
"He won't come Gabriella. He doesn't want to hang out with the geek squad" Bec said bluntly.
"Why are you dating such an idiot?" Gabriella asked.
"Because all boys are like that Gabriella. You don't see Erin's boyfriend or Chad here either do you?"
"Please tell me you and Chad aren't going out again?" Troy said groaning.
"No" Taylor huffed, "but you never saw him here when we were dating either."
"Well I've never seen you at a basketball game either" Troy retorted.
"There were no games while Chad and I were dating" Taylor said crossly.
Maria drove Troy and Gabriella beck to the pizza parlour near East High and Troy promised to walk Gabriella home before ten. Bec was right about her boyfriend making an excuse not to come which Troy thought was a pity he had fun getting to know Gabriella's friends.
Taylor watched Troy make the effort to get to know the team members and speak about things they were interested in. Comparing that to the way Chad showed no interest in her activities and insisted on them only hanging out with his friends when they'd been together she had to admit Gabriella might be right when she'd said that she and Troy had something special.
"Tonight was fun" Troy commented as he and Gabriella walked home.
"It was. Thank you for making the effort to get to know them. Especially after what happened with the call-backs" Gabriella said.
"I forgave Chad and my team, why wouldn't I forgive yours as well. They didn't even know me but Chad knew that you were special to me. He's the one who really betrayed me not them" Troy said.
"Yeah but Chad was your friend. He had the whole history of your friendship to help the two of you get past what happened."
"You still don't trust them?" Troy asked.
"I want to be friends with them and Taylor obviously wants to be my friend but she hasn't changed her attitude towards you. Maybe Bec and Erin would make better friends" Gabriella replied. "What are we doing tomorrow night?"
"Melissa's having a big party she's invited everyone. She will be upset if I don't go" Troy said.
Gabriella sighed "I really don't like those parties" she said.
"You don't have to come" Troy said slightly hurt.
"Of course I'll come" Gabriella said impatiently. "I just wish they were more like the party at Ryan and Sharpay's but it won't be will it?"
"No it'll be more like Brad's party" Troy replied quietly. "But we can go for a while and sit outside. At least it will be warmer than Brad's."
"Yeah" Gabriella agreed smiling.
"Melissa has a pool and a hot tub so bring your bikini of you want to go in the hot tub. Some mad idiots will swim. The pool's heated but it probably still wouldn't be anywhere near warm enough. We don't need to sit near there though unless you want to.
"Okay do you have plans for tomorrow?" Gabriella asked.
Troy groaned. "Training with Dad" he said.
"So you'd probably benefit from using the hot tub" Gabriella said anxiously.
"Not really. There'd be too many hours between training and the party for it to make a difference" Troy said reassuringly. "If you want to go in the hot tub wear your bikini under your clothes. If you don't want to that's fine by me. It will probably be pretty crowded anyway and a lot of people may not bother too much about wearing a bathing suit."
"Isn't it dangerous to drink in a hot tub?" Gabriella asked.
Troy shrugged. "You get drunk a lot faster" he said thoughtfully.
"I think I'll give the hot tub a miss" Gabriella said nervously.
"That's fine Gabriella" Troy said smiling. "A hot tub's really only sexy when it's just the two of us."
Gabriella blushed.
"It's okay Gabriella. We don't have a hot tub. And if we did it would still be completely up to you what happened in it just like it is everywhere else" Troy said wearily. He was tired of Gabriella's insecurity, it was time she learned to trust him. He stopped to kiss her goodnight before they reached her house and then walked her the rest of the way home and kissed her chastely on the doorstep. "I'll pick you up about seven and we'll hang out for a while before going to the party?" he suggested.
Gabriella smiled "That would be great" she said.
"I'll talk to you tomorrow" he said kissing her again.
"I'll look forward to it. Good night Troy" Gabriella said kissing him quickly.
-o0o-
Troy sighed as he got in the shower to get ready to go out. He was definitely feeling better than he had last weekend but he was still feeling tired enough that a big night out wasn't all that appealing. He was looking forward to seeing Gabriella though. In fact some parts of him were almost too excited to see his girlfriend. He knew he would be hard as a rock all night if he didn't do something about it so he leaned back and pictured her in his mind while he took care of it enjoying being able to take his time and not have to worry about catching anything in a cup or having someone waiting for him to finish.
"Gabriella" he moaned quietly as he came in his hand. He couldn't wait for her to be ready to have sex but the truth is he didn't miss sex as much as he thought he would. Just thoughts of Gabriella were more arousing than any cheerleader could ever be.
He finished his shower and got dressed thinking about what he and Gabriella could do before the party. Sure they could come back here and watch a movie or they could go to Starbucks or the ice-cream parlour or walk in the park since it had been an unseasonably warm afternoon but those options all seemed a little ordinary especially because he knew Gabriella wasn't looking forward to the party.
He pulled on his shoes and tidied his bedroom in case they came back here before or after the party before leaving the window unlocked and going out to say goodnight to his parents.
"Hi Maria" he said as she answered the door.
"Hello Troy. What are your plans for the evening?" Maria said amiably.
"Well we're going to hang out for a bit and then go to Melissa's party" Troy said hoping Gabriella had told her mother the truth.
"Is it too early to go straight to the party?" Maria asked frowning.
Troy shrugged. "Melissa's a cheerleader and I don't want to arrive until there's a few other people there. They aren't always very nice to Gabriella when the group of them can gang up on her."
"Then why take my daughter to the party at all?" Maria asked.
"Everyone I know is planning to be there. It will be fine we just don't want to be early" Troy explained.
"What are you going to do before then?" Maria asked.
Troy shrugged "I was going to ask Gabriella what she wants to do. We could go for a walk or to Starbucks and hang out, maybe even see a movie if there's something on she wants to see."
"You could watch a movie here" Maria suggested. "I've got work to do in my office so you'd have the lounge to yourselves."
Gabriella came down at this point. "I have some new movies you might like" she said knowing her mother would be pleased if they accepted her offer.
Troy smiled. "If that's what you would like to do" he agreed.
They both enjoyed the movie, and cuddling up on the couch though Gabriella was a little more reserved than when she was watching movies at Troy's .
"We should go" Troy said as the credits began to roll.
"I'll just grab my coat" Gabriella agreed going to the cupboard beside the front door. "We're going now Mom. What time do you want me home?"
"Midnight please. Have a good night" Maria called back through the door. "Goodnight Troy."
"Goodnight Ms Montez" Troy replied politely.
A/N: Thank you to Pumpkinking5, Ceciliaa93, stordec23, brianna4797, mrs. phelps12, ViolaPearl, and thesportsgirl99 for your support.
